Review of Women's Ministries program area begins By John D. Filiatreau Presbyterian News Service Thursday, October 28,1999 LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The General Assembly Council has begun a review of the Women's Ministries program area of the Presbyterian Church (USA), as instructed by the 1999 General Assembly. The review, to be finished by the end of February 2000, will include an assessment of the "theological balance" of the Women's Ministries programs and materials. Presbyterians who wish to comment may do so in writing to: Women's Ministry Review/Research Services, 100 Witherspoon Street, Louisville, KY 40202. The 211th General Assembly ordered the review - part of a regular process in which all GAC programs are evaluated on a three-year cycle, but moved it ahead in the schedule from its original May 2000 date to February. Commissioners Resolution 99-2, referred to the GAC by the Assembly, said the probe should include "factual information related to concerns and questions regarding the advocacy and program activities of the Women's Ministry program area ... and the conformance of said advocacy and program activities to Scripture and the Constitution of the Presbyterian Church (USA)." In a "rationale" filed with the resolution, its authors, a female minister from the Presbytery of Heartland and a woman elder from the Presbytery of Plains and Peaks, said the factors making the need for the review more urgent include: The choices of the Rev. Jane Spahr, a self-identified "lesbian evangelist," and Elder Letty Russell, a "self-affirming lesbian," to receive 1999 "Woman of Faith" awards; The failure of the Women's Ministries program area to properly supervise the National Network of Presbyterian College Women to ensure that its programs and materials were "in conformity to the theological and confessional standards" of the PC(USA); The Women's Ministries program area's advocacy of "radical political and theological agendas." The GAC's department of Research Services is sending questionnaires to a random sample of Presbyterians, and in a departure from normal practice, will also make a special effort to get input from two specific groups of Presbyterian women, Voices of Orthodox Women and Voices of Sophia. (Voices of Orthodox Women has been critical of many Women's Ministries programs; Voices of Sophia has been largely supportive.) Research Services Coordinator Keith M. Wulff said he hopes to obtain mailing lists from both groups. He said he is in the process of obtaining the lists and doesn't know how many members the groups may have. "If I was in those organizations, I would want to comment on this program area," he said to explain the unusual targeted polling. "This will allow us to get to hear the voices of people who are disaffected." Asked whether comparable efforts had been made in connection with the routine evaluations of other program areas, he said: "There really aren't constituent groups like these around the other programs we evaluate - the News Service, for example. The analogy doesn't work with the other groups." Wulff said one reason for the separate polling of the two women's groups is that it will enable Research Services to "find out exactly what the objections by both groups are." He said that research won't be intended to "find out how many people are for or against" the Women's Ministries programs. Wulff said Research Services will also conduct its usual random poll, which will probably go to approximately 600 Presbyterians. "You don't need a large sample if you're not going to do a lot of analysis by subgroups," he explained. Wulff will be personally reviewing the Women's Ministries area's printed materials and other resources.

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